SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2013-005

The Cases of Sos Kundi and Ambakich: Drawing Language Boundaries and Assigning Names

Authors

Richardson, Dan
Tupper, Ian

Abstract

By focusing on an analysis of data collected during the surveys of the Sos Kundi (2007) and
Ambakich (2003) languages, this report summarizes how the indigenous metalinguistic view is a
key part of language surveys and other linguistic work in Papua New Guinea. We show how it is
possible for linguistic research to intentionally focus on the view of language speakers, allowing
their voices to shape the findings and conclusions.